Penn State guard Alex Bentley is the winner of the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Thursday.

The award, presented annually by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, goes to the season's outstanding college women's player 5-8 or short.

Bentley, a 5-7 senior from Indianapolis, is the second-leading scorer for the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions (24-4) at 14 points a game. She is fourth in the nation in steals (3.7 a game) and is just the fourth player in Big Ten history and second player in Lady Lion history to accumulate 1,500 points, 500 assists and 300 steals.

The team won the regular-season Big Ten title and plays in the conference tournament Friday in Hoffman Estates, Ill., in the quarterfinals.

The winner is determined by a panel of representatives of the WBCA. In its release announcing the award, the WBCA said a winner must "demonstrate leadership, character, loyalty, all-around basketball ability and excellence in the classroom." The award is named after the daughter-in-law of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.

Bentley, a broadcast journalism major, is the third Nittany Lions player to earn the honor, which dates to 1984 (when it was won by current Baylor coach Kim Mulkey). The other Penn State players to win are Suzie McConnell in 1988 and Helen Darling in 2000.

Bentley will be presented with the award April 8 during the Women's Final Four in New Orleans.